Published 4:40 pm, Wednesday, April 20, 2011

A Midland man remained in jail Wednesday night after being arrested over the weekend for allegedly breaking into a home and assaulting a man with a knife.

James Kemp, 23, was arrested Sunday by Midland police on first-degree charge of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit another felony.

Police responded to a disturbance at about 7 p.m. Sunday on the 200 block of Holly Drive in reference to two men fighting in the front yard. When officers interviewed one of the men, he said Kemp broke into his house by kicking in the front door and began to assault him with a knife, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The victim, according to the police report, told police that Kemp was walking east on Holly Drive. He was wearing black shorts but wasn't wearing a shirt.

When police tried to stop a man matching that description, he fled down an adjacent alley. While officers pursued Kemp, he kicked down a fence on the 3400 block of Sycamore Avenue, the report states.

He continued running until he kicked in a door to a house on the 3300 block of Park Lane, police said. Officers finally were able to arrest Kemp in the living room of the residence.

He is being held on a $54,000 bond for the first-degree felony and several misdemeanors including a charge of criminal mischief. Kemp had been arrested in the past for several counts of assault, being a fugitive from justice and bond forfeiture.

If convicted of the burglary with intent to commit another felony charge, he could serve between five and 99 years in prison.